Process of treating hydrocarbons



B. ANDREWS AND W. C. AVERILL, Jn. PROCESS 0F TREATING HYDROGARBONS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19. 191B. 1 ,329,739. Patented Feb. 3,1920. s SHEETPSHEET 1.

B. ANDREWS AND W. C. AVERILL, In. PROCESS 0F THEATING HYDRoCAHoNs.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I9. 191B.

l 5,329,739. Batened Feb. 3, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. Q

B. ANDREWS AND W. C. AVER|L| ,1R.

PROCESS 0F TREATING HYDROCARBDNS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I9. 1918.

1,329,739. Y Patented Feb. 3,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.'

par

ED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN ANDREWS, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, AND WLLARD C. AVERILL, JR., 0F

' MERAUX, LOUISIANA.

]?IEI.OGIESS 0F TREATING HYDROCARBONS.

Specication of Letters Patent.

. Patented. Feb. 3, 1920..

Application filed September 19, 191g. Serial No. 254,737.

To all whom t may Concern:

Be it known that we, BENJAMIN AhNonEws residing at Houston, in the county of Harris and State oi" Texas, and lVImnnn C. ivEmLL, Jr., residing at Meraux, in the parish of St. Bernard and State of Louisiana, both citizens of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Tmprovements in Processes Jfor Treating Hydrocarbons, of which the following is a full, clear, and complete disclosure.

@ur invention relates to a process -for treating comparatively heavy petroleum and other hydrocarbon oils and their distillates and derivatives, in order to produce from such heavy oils a large yield oi gasolene or other light, easily volatile liquids.

@ne object of our invention is to provide a process of the kind described, which will be safe and efficient, and by the use of which large yields of gasolene and light hydrocarbon liquids may be obtained from heavy oils,

and which will be free .trom trouble arising from the accumulation of carbon. @ther objects and advantages ol ourinvention will be obvious from the following specication. ln practisingour improved process, we cause heavy hydrocarbon oil, or the vapors thereoi", to be heated and converted into lighter liquids by passing it through tubes containing a heated liquid of such a character that it will not distil or vaporize at the temperature required :tor converting the oil. The arrangement employed is such that the. liquid in the tubes is mixed with the oil vapors, and is rapidly circulated through the tubes. en operating in this way, we ind that the tubes may be comparatively short; that large quantities of oil may 'be passed through them, and that large yields of gasolene may be obtained from heavy oils that would yield practically no gasolene if subjected to a straight distillation process; moreover, we find that the presence of the liquid in the tubes, particularly when kept in rapid circulation, eiiectively prevents the accumulation of carbon, so that after extensive runs the tubes remain practically clean.

@ur process may be .carried out at atmospheric pressure, but we prefer to malntain the heated liquid in the tubes under a unitorm pressure, higher than atmospheric pressure. This super-atmospheric pressure may be obtained by restricting and regulating the escape of the hydrocarbon vapors;

butpreierably, and more conveniently, by subjecting the apparatus, including` the liquid in the tubes, to the pressure of steam admitted and maintained at a uniform pressure. The vapors on leaving the tubes may be condensed and separated in any welllniown way; but we prefer to conduct them first to a dephlegmator or separating tank, where the heavy oils may be condensed and separated out, and then to a condenser maintained at a comparatively low temperature but also preferably maintained under pressure, in which condenser the light oils are condensed and drawn oil.

Tn the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification, we have illustrated one form or embodiment of apparatus suitable for use in practising our process, which willbe readily understood from a description ot this apparatus and its mode of operation.

ln the drawing Figure i is a vertical. section of the complete installation; Fig. 2 isy a side elevation, partly in section, of the furnace, including the vtubes containing the heated liquid and through which the hydrocarbon is to be passed; Fig. 3 is a detail sec tion view of two of the tubes.

Referring in detailsto the drawing, we have shown at l a furnace which may be ot any conventional type. This furnace supports a header, to the lower side of which there are secured a plurality of U- shapedtubes 3. The ends of these U-shaped tubes open into the header 2, and the body of the. tubes extends from the header down 1nto the furnace, so as to be heated. An oil supply pipe l is disposed in one leg olf each of the U-shaped tubes, and these pipes 4 are all connected with a common oil su ply header or pipe 5, so that by opening tllie cocks 6 and 6a, the oil to be treated may be caused to flow down the tubes 4 and into the heated liquid in the pipes 3. The pipes 3 are filled with a heated liquid such as melted lead, which will not distil at the temperature employed, and this heated liquid extends up into the header, with its surface at the level indicated by the broken line a, Fig. l. 7 designa-tes a dephlegmator or air-cooled condenser, and this is filled with broken pottery or other materia-l adapted to expose a large surface-to the vapors. This dephlegmator is connected with the header 2 by the pipe 8, and also through the 'time to time through the outlet pipe 9 with the water-cooled condenser 10. lldesignates a tank adapted to receive the light liquids condensed in the condenser 10. Any fixed gases passing into this tank 11 may be permitted to escape through the pipe 12, and the light hydrocarbons may 'be drawn o' through the pipe 12. When it is desired to operate the apparatus under a uniform pressure, this may conveniently be done by admitting steam into the dephlegrnator through the pipe 14 and valve 30, which is preferably a pressure regulating valve adapted to admit steam at the pressure desired.

In practising our improved process in the apparatus described, we proceed as follows: The heavy hydrocarbon oil is supplied to the header 5 under ressure, and flows from this header down through the small pipes 4 into the melted metal in the tubes 3. This metal is maintained at a temperature suitable for converting the oil, and this will vary with the character of the oil treated. When treating a distillate of 32 degrees B., we

have found a temperature of'500 degrees C. and a pressure of 7 5 pounds to give good results. It is to be understood, however, that both the pressure and temperature may, and

should be varied, 1n order to get the best results, An operator, by noting the results had with the particular oil treated, can readily determine the most advantageous values for temperature and pressure. We preferably provide a thermometer 35 disposed in the liquid in the header, and also a thermometer 37 disposed in the vapors in the header, wherebyv temperature observations may be made. The melted metal in the tubes is kept in rapid circulation by the liquid, which immediately vaporizes on comingin contact with the metal and rises in the form of bubbles, as indicated in Fig. 3. This causes the lead to rise in one legof the tube and to descend in the other, as indicated by the arrows. The vapors pass through the header 2 to the dephlegmator, as above explained, and the heavy oils, along with any water of condensation accumulating'in this device, may be drawn off from 17. The lighter vapors pass through the dephlegmator 7 into the water-cooled condenser 10 and Iarel condensed in tank 11, as above eX- plained. The steam admitted through the pipe 14 and reducing valve 30, with cooperation of a pressure relief and regulating valve 15, which is set so as to throttle the escaping mixture, operates to maintain a uniform pressure throughout the apparatus.

In actual operation the only appreciable accumulation of carbon noted, .is on the surface of the melted lead in the header 2, and this may be easily removed by shutting olf the oil supply 4and opening the cock a0 and Y admitting live steam through cock 41 so as,

to blow out the carbon.

Leanne@ 'llhe apparatus described herein is described and claimed in our pending applicationZ Serial No. 147,780, tiled February 10, 191

While we have disclosed only the preferred method of practising our improved rocess, we are aware that modifications-may fbe made therein without departing from the scope of our claims.

lWhat we claim is:

1. The method of treating hydrocarbon oil, which consists in injecting the oil into tubes containing a melted metal, circulating the resulting vapors and melted metal through said tubes, and then withdrawing the hydrocarbon vapors.

2. The method of treating hydrocarbon oil, which consists in injecting the oil into tubes containing a melted metal maintained under a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure, circulating the resulting vapors and melted metal together in the same direction through said tubes, and withdrawing the hydrocarbon vapors. 3. The method of treating hydrocarbons by injecting same into a molten metal coniined in a tubular circulatory heating system in such manner as to cause intimate contact between the metal 'and hydrocarbons and circulation of the metal, the vapors and metal moving together in the same direction and withdrawing the hydrocarbons.

1. The method of treating hydrocarbons by injecting same in such manner into a molten metal confined in a tubular circulatory heating system kept under a super-atmospheric pressure as t'o cause intimate contact between the metal and hydrocarbons and rapid circulation of the metal and hydrocarbons together in the same direction within the tubular heating system and condensing the resultant vapors.

5. rlhe methodl of treating hydrocarbons by injecting same into a molten metal confined in a tubular circulatory heating system in such manner as to cause intimate contact between metal and hydrocarbons and rapid circulation of the metal and vapors together in the same direction and condensing the resultant vapors under superatmospheric pressure.

6. rlhe method of treating hydrocarbons by injecting same into -a molten metal confined in a tubular circulatory heating system in such a manner as to cause rapid circulation of the metal through the heating system, the vapors moving in the same direction as the metal and in contact therewith, and then withdrawing the hydrocarbons, the system throughout the process being subjected to steam'pressure.

7. The method of treating hydrocarbon by injecting same into a molten metal confined in a tubular circulatory heating system in such manner as to cause intimate Contact be- -igeearee tween the metal and hydrocarbons and the circulation of the metal and the hydrocarbons continuously in one direction, and then withdrawing the hydrocarbon.

8. The method of treating hydrocarbonsl comprising injecting oil into one of two tubes containing melted metal and connected at top and bottom, whereby the density of the liquid in one tube is decreased and an upward current of mingled metal and tubes containing melted metal and connected at top and bottom at a point sufflciently below the surface of themelted metal to produce an upward motion of the mixed metal and vapors which is rapid as compared with a non-directed current of the saine materials.

10. The method oftreating hydrocarbons comprising injecting oil into one of two tubes containing melted metal and connected at top and bottom at a point suiciently below the surface of the melted metal to produce an upward motion of the mixed metal and vapors which is rapid as compared with a non-directed current of the same materials, and maintaining super-atmospheric pressure at the surface of said melted' metal. c

BENJAMIN ANDREWS. WILLARD C. AVERILL, JR. 

